


Love Me Back To Life

by CandyassGoth



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, And thus, But also a horny teenager, Creepy backyard playground, Ghost Loki, Ghost Sex, I'm Weird, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Loki Needs a Hug, Loki has a sad story, Loki is already dead, M/M, SO, Spectrophilia, Thor Is a Good Bro, Thor has to uncover it, and weirdness, lots of sad feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 21:00:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3583785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CandyassGoth/pseuds/CandyassGoth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Thor and his parents move into a new town, and a new house. Everything is nice, everything is normal. Except for the lonely pale boy that sits in the playground just beyond their backyard. </p>
<p>Thor finds himself entangled in a supernatural affair before he knows left from right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Me Back To Life

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [为爱复生 (Love Me Back To Life ) (Chinese Translation）](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3707513) by [EvchenKi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvchenKi/pseuds/EvchenKi)



> [techmonky](http://teckmonky.deviantart.com/) at deviantart created some fanart for this fic! Check out her adorable Ghost!Loki on a swing here: [Ghost Loki -Fic Fanart-](http://teckmonky.deviantart.com/art/Ghost-Loki-Fic-Fanart-630871917)
> 
>  
> 
> Unless you are Sam and Dean, please don’t tell me anything I wrote here is ‘incorrect’. It’s _fanfiction_ on ghosts and porn, and it’s literally thrown together in 6 hours in total. Timelines and canon and facts are loopy and extremely wonky. I can twist what I want including your neck
> 
> No just joking please enjoy wow this is a wild new kink fic for me (no not really) what am I doing with my life *dramatic flail* Yes very original title im sorry <3
> 
>  
> 
> _I apologise for errors_

To say he was upset about moving to this boring little town wasn’t quite true. 

Thor would miss his crazy wonderful friends, his favourite teacher Mr. Heimdall, his swimming pool and the sunny whether. This town was a lot smaller, cloudy more often than not, and instead of a pool, there was a large yard in his backyard. There was a kids’ park right beyond the fence, neighbours on both sides, and way too much greenery. He didn’t particularly mind, though he felt like he was in a Twilight film, but his mother loved it, and he was a likeable guy, he’d fit in in no time.

The movers his father hired were expensive and thus highly professional. Another upside to moving here to this quaint little house was that no one realised just how rich they were. Thor had grown out of his arrogant attitude, he was a pretty chill guy about it. It only caused problems when people knew how much money you had.

It was a fresh start, he’d call Fandral every week or so to catch up, enamour everyone at the new school—but first see what on Earth this guy was doing all alone in the playground.

“Hi.” Thor called hesitantly, climbing over the fence of his backyard.

On the swing sat a young man with black hair, and when he looked over his shoulder, Thor saw green eyes. They were pretty too, he couldn’t help thinking. Thor smiled broadly, friendly, hands in his pockets. It was late, getting chilly, and he was looking forward to getting the first night in a new house over. Even if he was actively trying to stall it in favour of staring at the seemingly mute male.

Just when Thor got worried, the boy spoke. “Do you like the house?”

“Yeah it’s-it’s cool. Nice neighbourhood too.” He added. When the guy said nothing more, staring blankly in the weirdest way, Thor figured he was one of those lone wolf types. He shrugged, lowering his smile to appear less show-offish. “I’m Thor, your new…neighbour?”

The guy didn’t seem to catch onto the hint, but he did blink. “…I’m Loki.”

Thor nodded, and fought off the shiver that overcame him. His mother would be out any second shouting for him to put on a jacket like he was ten years old, but he definitely understood now why.

He looked around at the old structures. Swings, monkey bars, seesaws, sandpits; it had been a while since he’d been in a playground. He’d out grown them too soon in any case, he was a big guy. “So, cool hang out you got here.”

Loki looked around for a moment. “…It’s always quiet. They don’t come anymore.”

“No kids around?” It was immediately a dumb thing to say, he saw already two houses in the vicinity with children. He shrugged, and looked back at the playground. “…Treehouse looks a little broken.”

“I don’t know how to fix it.”

“Yeah? Well, I could ask my dad for help. We know a thing or too. Maybe a weekend when he isn’t busy, we could try fix it. You can be the first to christen it.” Loki looked up at him, and Thor choked, his face going red. “With your presence I mean, once it’s done.”

Loki looked confused. “You’ll fix it for me?”

“I—yeah, I’ll try?”

“Thank you.”

“Thor!”

And there was his mother. He smiled, and turned to leave. “Hey er, I gotta go. See you around, Loki?”

Loki smiled. “Alright.”

 

**XxXxXxXx**

As it turned out school was great. He had two great new teachers, Mr Coulson and Mr Selvig. The principle was another story though, he was terrifying to even the teachers, though there was a rumour he used to be a pirate, hence the eye patch. 

He made new friends, bunches of them, but found himself settled with a group somewhat unlike his old pals. Tony and Bruce were both brilliant in their academics, then there was Sam who was a sporty guy looking to join the army, and finally Natasha who was going to be a spy, _if_ she wasn’t already with her mirage of weird useful skills that had little to do with school. It was Tony who actually recruited him, determined to prove ‘Tony Stark would always have the coolest gang in the school’. Thor didn’t mind, he always did seem to be one of the cool kids.

Frigga, his mother, had set up all their comforts until it felt like they had never moved, the house just rearranged its walls. She had everything cosy and familiar in no time, as well as got to work in the garden on her two days off a week. She was happy, her roses were budding, and that was good, besides a few faulty lights around the house. Odin, his father, had started on his new promotion, and he couldn’t have been happier. He was rarely at home, but the three of them had an unspoken understanding. They were all content.

 

About a week later Thor found Loki in the same place he saw him last. 

“Hey, Loki.”

“Hello.”

“Back for the excitement of the empty playground?”

The joke fell on deaf ears. Loki looked away, his brows meeting. “We all used to play here.”

“Your friends?” Thor asked. Loki didn’t answer him, maybe it was personal, so Thor continued. “Me and my friends used to have this playground too, back home. Except we used to run it like this little gang, you know like, we’d be the Vikings and all the other little kids had to bow down before they could come in and play. I was the king, Sif was the queen, and Fandral Hogun and Volstagg were my trusty bodyguards. Not that I needed body guards, I was quite a tough kid.”

This time Loki smiled, engaging in eye contact. “I know.”

And that wasn’t weird at all. “…Okay. So, where are your friends?”

Loki’s face fell. “They don’t come anymore. Not since the treehouse broke.”

“That’s a shame.” Thor looked over to the tree. It certainly looked like a tornado hit it. Loki was looking at it too, his face painted in longing and sadness. Thor had always been a sucker for helping people, and the words tumbled out before he could stop them. But he did mean them. “Well, too bad for them because when it’s fixed, they won’t be allowed to come back. We’ll make a new gang, and if they want to join us, they have to join our gang first.”

Loki smiled softly. “Like the army?”

“Yeah, I’ll be the commander.”

“You’d make a good captain.”

“Who would you like to be?”

The question brought back the look of sadness, though Thor couldn’t gander a guess as to why. “I…I don’t know…”

“No rush, think about it, and tell me. You can be anything you want.”

He meant that too. 

 

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

“Thor! Have you told your father about these lights?”

Rounding a corner with a cringe, Thor scratched his head knowing he deserved her wrath. “I thought you did.”

“For goodness sake Thor—” Frigga threw her hands up, the kitchen light flickering as if to prove her point. He had honestly just forgotten. He was good at making sandwiches in the dark, with one hand too. 

“What else do you guys talk about before you fall asleep? I thought you’d tell him.”

“You are the laziest ever, I swear.”

“So not true, mom.” He whined, but relented quickly. “Sorry, I forgot.”

She sighed through her nose, but gave him a crooked smile and he knew he was forgiven. “So I gathered.”

Smiling stupidly he leaned against the counter and glanced out into the night, lights on around the neighbourhood. It was a good quiet place, perfect for his mother, and for his studies. 

Suddenly there was someone standing beyond the fence, staring right at him. 

_Loki_ , his mind supplied instantly. He stared, incredibly confused, then bolted out the back door, ignoring Frigga’s concern.

But Loki was now gone. Nothing, not a shape or shadow. Loki was a pale guy, but there was nothing standing out in the darkness of the bushes and the empty playground.

Frigga stepped out the door behind him, pulling him from his trance.

“Thor? What are you doing?”

“I…I thought I saw someone.”

“What? Who?”

“Nothing just, just…nothing.”

 

**XxXxXxXxXxXx**

Only two days later he saw Loki again. He was back in the park, on the swing, seemingly unaware or just ignoring Thor’s presence until he was practically in front of him. 

It was another chilly day, and the kid was wearing _cotton_.

“Hey. It’s cold out here today, sure you should be hanging out here?”

Loki looked down, his long fingers tangled in his lap. “I don’t know where else to go.”

The kicked puppy vibe was strong, but it was just too well played to be fake. Thor had the strangest urge to curl Loki against his chest and cuddle him. “Well…come inside. My parents are going to be a while yet. It’s warmer in there.” 

The house was definitely warmer inside, and Loki looked around with cautious interest. Thor didn’t know what to make of that, and led Loki to the livingroom.

“…Do you like the house?” Loki asked.

“Yeah, it’s gotten real cosy.” Thor smiled, putting on the heater. “There.”

Loki didn’t seem to understand what it was for, as if they weren’t freezing their butts off. He could _feel_ the ice block waiting to form over Loki.

“Um, are you hungry?”

“…I was.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Thor led him to the kitchen where he pulled out a few ingredients. Loki watched him silently, looking uncomfortable and out of place. “Is peanut butter okay? I’m not exactly a master cook.” 

The kitchen light flickered right after he shut his mouth. He looked up at it, and smiled sheepishly. 

Loki didn’t seem to notice. “Can I see you more?”

“…Sure, that would be cool. I need to make new friends here anyway.” Not entirely true, but it looked like _Loki_ was the one that needed a friend or two. And maybe even a few extra sandwiches, he was a little too skinny.

“Thank you.” Loki said, and Thor continued with the bread. 

“Do you like the house?”

Thor looked up, pausing in his slathering only for a moment. “…Do you?”

“It’s too small in here.”

“…Yeah, funny that dad thought so too. But mom likes it, it’s cheap—well to them. But dad thinks its going to be a good investment in ten years time. Can’t argue with him, he _is_ a business man.” Done, Thor put the slices on separate plates and slid Loki’s over the counter to him. “Here we go, made for us both.” 

Thor bit into his sandwich with a hum, there was no way you could spoil a peanut butter sandwich no matter your cooking skills.

But Loki was looking sick, down right scared. “…I…I have to go.”

“What? What’s wrong?” Thor swallowed his mouthful thickly. He jumped when Loki pushed off the counter and turned, fleeing for the door. He didn’t know possessed him to grab Loki’s arm, but he nearly jerked back from the icy prickle on the boy’s skin. “Fuck, you’re freezing. Loki come sit by the heater—”

But Loki was already leaving, racing out of the house like he could fly. He was not seen again that week.

 

**XxXxXxXxXxXx**

Dinner times were always calm and enjoyable, especially with Frigga’s cooking.

“Honey, I need that burglary alarm put in soon.” She said.

Odin nodded. “They’re coming this weekend. Is something wrong?” Thor looked up too. Frigga shrugged.

“It’s just a feeling.”

Odin smiled teasingly. “Please don’t tell me about your mother again and her tea leaves.”

Thor smirked. The fact that Frigga’s mother was a _witch_ was always a reoccurring joke in the house. Whenever something happened that couldn’t be explained at time Frigga would suggest the possibility of it being supernatural. Odin always scoffed and brushed it off, and quickly enough Frigga let it go. It wasn’t like _she_ was a witch, she’d never actually experienced anything herself. Still, it made for good barbeque stories.

“Then how about that something knocked three times on the back door today and there was no one there?”

Odin and Thor both lowered their forks. “What?” Odin asked.

“And the lights are still unstable. I love this house but I want to be comfortable in it.”

“I thought the electrician fixed them.”

“I did too but its still doing the same thing.” She sounded more worried by the second, but she did a good job of trying to appear casual. “And worse it follows you. I walk into the kitchen, they flicker, walk through the hallway, those flicker. It’s just a little daunting, dear. Especially when I am alone.”

“So are you blaming a burglar or an evil spirit? Between you and your mother I could never tell.”

“Just do something, please—”

“I’ll have words with the electrician, and I’ll see about bumping forward the alarm schedule.”

 

Thor wasn’t quite surprised when a few days later both the electrician and alarm guy insisted there was nothing wrong with the lights in their house.

 

**XxXxXxXxXx**

A day later Loki was back. Thor had just got himself to sit down and start on a project when the doorbell rang. He sighed, knowing there was no Frigga home to answer it. He called out that he was coming, and jogged downstairs.

But when he opened the door, no one was there. Nothing but a cold breeze.

Thor was halfway up the stairs to his room when someone knocked on the back door. A second’s debate was all he needed to bolt, determined to catch the person.

The person was there, and it was Loki.

Thor blinked. “Loki, hey. Come in.”

“Thank you.” 

He had the sweetest accent, Thor thought as he stepped aside, letting Loki slip in. “…I was wondering when you’d come back, how are you?”

“Alright.”

“Okay, good. Um…make yourself at home.” They stood in the hallway, rather awkwardly, until Thor took it upon himself to make conservation. Loki didn’t seem to be the chatty type. “You don’t go to my school. I haven’t seen you around.” 

“Do you want to go upstairs? My father won’t be home today…”

It was like a switch was flipped. The atmosphere changed immediately, and the awkward proximity of the hallway morphed into something more suggestive. “…Yeah.” Thor breathed, and before he knew it he was dragging Loki by the wrist, introducing him to his room. Loki’s skin was cold, and Thor set himself on warming him up… “This is my room. It’s messy, I know. Mom and dad moan all the time.”

Loki didn’t seem to hear. He went straight to the window, looking out at the playground beyond. “We all used to play here. They don’t come anymore.” 

“Well…maybe you need to forget about them.” Thor suggested. He came up behind Loki and slid his arms around him. “We can be friends.”

Loki leaned back into him, a light cool weight. Thor couldn’t catch his scent, but he lost his train of thought when Loki sighed into him. “You’re warm. Always so warm.”

“Must be the muscles.” Thor chuckled, grinning cheekily. Loki turned in his arms and looked up at him, his eyes suddenly holding a heavy sense of loss. It sobered Thor somewhat.

“Won’t you stay?”

“Stay where?”

“Kiss me before he comes back.”

“Before who—” Loki’s soft lips silenced the rest of his question, and in connection his brain. He closed his eyes and hummed, reasserting his grip on Loki’s waist. He pulled a hand back to grasp at his long neck, squeezing lightly at the delicate structure. The kiss was short and chaste, leaving Thor’s head cloudy and foggy.

Then Loki pulled away and ran, all happening too fast for Thor to even register, near fighting his way into the closet. It shut with an offended _click_ , leaving Thor to stare at the window, still in place.

He hesitated, glancing around the room for some clarification as to why Loki bolted like a spooked rabbit, but nothing— 

_Thud thud thud_

Thor looked at the door to the hallway. Footsteps.

“Mom?” Thor asked, frowning. Neither of his parents were due home soon. Frigga was more likely, her job was more flexible in hours, but she wasn’t heavy-footed in the least.

A sob came from the closet and Thor looked back. The sound was so _miserable_ that he stepped forward out of instinct, wanting to reach Loki and comfort him against the unknown problem, when there was another set of three footsteps.

Thor clenched his jaw and marched to the door, stamping his feet along the way and all but barged out, hoping to sound as intimidating as he could. 

But there was no one in the hallway. Maybe it was the house settling? Birds on the roof? 

“Who is there?” 

Nothing 

Promising violence if he _did_ catch someone in the house, he ran back to the closet. “Loki? It’s okay, you don’t—you don’t have to be scared. I…was I too fast?” What else could have spooked him?

“I promise its okay,” he whispered gently to the wood, so unlike his usual boisterous voice. He opened the closet door slowly, so Loki could believe him. But Loki wasn’t there.

“Loki?” Thor blurted, waving a hands through his hanging clothing even though he could see no legs at the bottom. “Loki?” 

_What the fuck_ , was one of the more predominant words flying through his mind. When it was painfully obvious Loki wasn’t there Thor checked the only other closet, but it too was empty. Behind the door, under the bed, down the hall—he was alone.

He swirled a few times, as if Loki could hide straight behind him.

“Loki?!”

Thor did not find Loki that day.

 

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

“Thor!”

“Yes dad, I hear you, what is—ow!”

“Respect for the elders,” Odin barked, smacking Thor upside the head one more time for good measure.

“Okay, okay, sorry. Er, what did I do?” Thor asked, rubbing his head.

“Look at this latch.” Odin said, pointing to the basement door.

Thor looked at it.

“…And?”

“It’s open, Thor. I’ve found it open twice, and now I am tired of closing it.”

Thor looked slowly between the latch and Odin’s face, failing to see the point. Because it wasn’t _him_. “…I didn’t open it.”

“You didn’t?”

“No! Why would I?”

“Thor it’s not your mother, so it has to be you. So stop these stupid pranks.”

“What pranks? I’m not doing anything!”

“You are too old to be playing the fool, Thor!”

“It’s not—” _Me_! Thor finished mentally, shouting it, but the doorbell rang, and Odin pointed him off. 

“Go answer it. And do this again and I’ll ground you.”

Thor huffed and hurried down the corridor. He sighed away the negative energy before opening the door, always one to greet with a smile. 

Only there was no one there.

“…Hello?” Thor leaned out the door, squinting at the garden. The gate by the fence was closed, and nothing was out of place.

“Who is it?” Odin called.

“Er…no one.” Thor closed the door, scratching his face. He sought out his father, who was hanging his keys up in the hall.

Odin hummed. “No one?” 

“It could be some kids playing ding dong ditch? Mom’s been getting it, remember.” And so did he, but that _could_ have been Loki.

“Good to know it’s not only her they are targeting, otherwise I’d be alarmed.”

“We already are.” Thor smirked, jabbing him thumb at the alarm box. Odin pursed his lips in the manner that said ‘you let your stupidity out again’.

 

**XxXxXxXxXxXx**

The pranks in question were small things. Lights being left on, keys moving, his father’s fancy silver pen finding its way into the bird bath outside, and the constant reappearance of a little green toy solider in the weirdest of places. Namely inside Thor and Odin’s shoes.

It was creepy, to say the least, but Thor tried not to be as freaked as he felt for his parents’ sake. 

Other than that, everything was good. School was good, the weather was decent, and Tony had pointed out a pretty girl to him that apparently had a huge crush on him. He spent the afternoon jog home thinking about her and her bright smile, but every thought vanished when he got home and saw Loki hovering around the tree with the tree house.

“Loki?” he called as he jumped over the fence, frowning heavily. Loki had disappeared again. What was he, a magician? An answer wouldn’t fall out of thin air so he searched until he couldn’t anymore, and accepted that he was most likely seeing things.

In the end he climbed up into the treehouse to assess the damage. It wasn’t too far gone, but it looked like a really old job, it’d need a good fix. It definitely wasn’t safe for hanging out it. He felt bad for Loki, having around out here but unable to use it, even if the Loki he just saw was a figment of his increasingly weird imagination. 

_Though maybe being crazy would be better_ , he thought when he entered the kitchen and found the refrigerator magnets rearranged into the word _captain_. 

 

**XxXxXxXxXxXx**

The next time he really did see was Loki was one Friday afternoon after Tony left, full of pizza and fizzy drinks. Thor went upstairs and found Loki in his room, just standing there, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Fuck! Shit! Loki?! What the…fuck…you gave me a heart attack!” Thor bellowed, barely able to right himself against the door as his heart leapt out of his chest. He wasn’t exactly sure who he expected it to be when he walked in and found someone standing there, but it wasn’t Loki. Not entirely. Maybe a little.

Loki stared up at him, neither amused nor ashamed. “I’m sorry. I wanted to see you.”

“Oh? Well, er…Loki how did you get up here?”

Instead of answering, despite Thor’s incredulous eye brow fixture, Loki shifted and rubbed his arms, looking paler than ever. “I’m cold.”

Thor sobered immediately, his annoyance from the fright and the buzz from Tony’s presence dissolving as he properly took in Loki. He really did look cold, _sick_ , dark circles around his eyes, his arms bony and his skin pasty, even in the artificial light of the bulb on the ceiling.

“What happened?” he asked softly, gathering Loki up in his arms even if nothing was making sense, especially around this boy. He definitely knew too little about him to be acting so intimate, especially if he was outright breaking into his house.

Loki hugged him back, which was good (though it eradicated Thor’s train of thought). Thor tightened his grip, willing his warmth onto the chilly body. They were quiet for a short comfortable while. Thor was glad no one else was home, he would’ve hated to break the hug earlier than they both wanted.

The recollection of their last moment together reappeared, and Thor frowned. He reached up and petted Loki’s hair. “Loki, are you okay? You disappeared last time. What happened? Was it me?”

“I was scared.”

“Why?”

Loki did not answer. Thor waited, but nothing. It couldn’t have been him, Loki was hugging him for goodness sake. He’d only kissed him…

“My father won’t be home today…”

Thor frowned. The strangest chill went up his spine, lifting all the hairs along his neck, and giving him an unfamiliar sensation of being unnerved. He didn’t even know what was unnerving him, it was just Loki, who could apparently climb like Spiderman in and out windows.

“Take me…?”

Thor leaned away this time, frowning even harder. Loki pulled back with a tiny frown of his own, his bottom lip pressing up into an adorable pout. It would’ve warmed Thor’s belly, were Loki’s abdomen still not so cold.

“What?” he asked, softly, not sure if he would understand the response. Loki had been mysterious in the strangest way, it wasn’t even the ‘playing hard to get’ vibe. It was just plain weird.

“Before we’re caught…take me. I want you.”

“Loki…you don’t know me.” This was getting too weird. Thor tried to shrug out of his arms, just for a tiny bit of space, but Loki held on, his big sullen eyes watering. It made Thor stop, the green of his eyes looked almost see-through, like gems. It was so beautiful, _Loki_ was so beautiful.

“Please, I need you. Make me feel good, please, one last time.” Loki begged, his sweet voice ragged like he had been screaming. He refused to let go. Thor started to panic, unable to stop the kiss that he received, even with his superior body strength. He grunted into it, Loki’s cold lips flushing his whole mouth.

The kid was shaking, he was ice cold. It was hard to miss as he forced himself as close as possible, almost visibly soaking up Thor’s warmth with needy little whimpers Thor could never in his wildest dreams imagine. His few escapades with sex were exciting and with experienced partners who knew what noises to make, just as how they knew what movements to make. But Loki, gods he had to be a virgin or just insanely horny.

The thought made Thor a little more confident, doubled by the fact that Loki was freezing and maybe a little fooling around would warm him up.

Though the fooling around didn’t last very long, at all. Loki was pulling Thor’s clothes off, eyes wet with unexplained tears but mouth parted in desperate little pants, then ridding himself of his own clothing. Which…was exactly what he had been wearing every other time he visited.

Thor was starting to piece together a very horrible picture here about possible abuse, and taking advantage of Loki was something his gut was screaming at him _not_ to do.

But was it taking advantage if Loki was the one pushing him on the bed? Straddling his body and grinding down against him, head hung and eyes clenched as he went? Thor’s will was limited, as his knowledge of Loki. The boy could be fine, maybe he was just lo- _oh_ nely… 

Any ideas that Loki was a virgin flew out the window when he wrapped his mouth around Thor’s cock, his mouth wet and cool. He knew what he was doing, bobbing his head rhythmically as he fisted what he couldn’t fit. Thor reclined against the pillows, moaning pathetically as he tried not to grab Loki’s head, attempting some form of compromise. It was difficult though, Loki’s mouth was snug around him, slippery and had a constant suction that was speeding him towards an orgasm. Didn’t Loki need to _breathe_?!

Thor let out a choke of disappointment as Loki stopped, jumping up swiftly into his lap before Thor knew heads or tails. He was inside Loki in seconds, this time slapping his hands to Loki’s waist in shock as the slimmer boy wriggled itself down. He looked up and down, alarmed, but Loki just kept sitting down further, taking his cock deeper.

It was so tight Thor couldn’t tell if he was burning hot or ice cold, he couldn’t feel anything from that moment other than Loki’s long fingers digging into his shoulders and the tug of his tight little hole as he rode it on his cock.

What followed was nothing short of bliss. His eyes closed, his body relaxed, and he drifted off. He really tried not to, Loki might take it the wrong way. He fought against his muscles, forcing them to tense, forcing his eyes open and on Loki’s pointed face, his black hair, his smooth body. Thor tried his best, but it all still felt like a dream. Maybe he _was_ dreaming, it just all happened too fast. Dreams were only seven seconds long they said, wasn’t he just downstairs with Tony? What time was it?

The sense of touch went out the window, but Thor still had his blurry flashing vision, allowing him glimpses of Loki. He was moving too fast, an ethereal silhouette against the ceiling, but Thor could hear his panting, that of one being fucked nice and slow. It was confusing, he could feel his hips moving but he was unsure if he was the one moving them. He almost suspected Tony of drugging him as some kind of joke, but when he came, it was like a breaking through a surface of water, sucking in a refreshing gulp of air and sending it off in tingles to every inch of his body.

“ _I feel so alive_.” Loki moaned from somewhere above him, but Thor was too busy passing out to respond.

 

**XxXxXxXx**

Thor awoke the next morning alone. It took him longer than usual to do so, he was quite the morning person. The clock across the room told him it was 9:45AM, and he vaguely registered it was a Saturday, hence why Tony had been over the night before. But he never slept in so late. 

His mind circled on the thought for a few moments, restarting each time he tried to get up and his body protested, so he just lay back down. But then a scratch to his thigh had him shooting out of bed, naked legs tangled in the sheets as he stumbled around noisily, gawking around.

_Where the fuck was Loki_

Evidently hearing his commotion Frigga called for him from downstairs. He called back an unintelligible gurgled response, hoping she would understand he was kind of half asleep and half out of his mind.

His clothes were on the floor, from yesterday, where Loki dumped them. His bed was messier than usual. A quick inspection to his cock proved he had done something on the naughty side last night, his pubes speckled with dried cum, a little left matted on his cock and thighs. But where was Loki, or any evidence of his presence?

Thor hurried downstairs, kicking on a spare track pants as he did so.

Frigga was in the kitchen, writing a shopping list. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted from the microwave, Thor’s no doubt. His traitorous and ludicrous body gave a rumble at the thought, as if it were more important than his current worry.

“Good morning, had a late night?” Frigga asked absent-mindedly as she dug through the fridge.

“Mom, did you see a boy here? In the house.”

“In the _where_?” Frigga repeated, leaning back to shoot him a warning glance. As if things weren’t weird enough—

Thor paused, staring into space. Frigga stared at him for a few moments longer, before continuing her list, blinking off his question. 

Even with his mother’s witch ancestry nothing even remotely weird had happened to them before, so if it was happening now, they wouldn’t quite notice it. Only…Frigga had, and they hadn’t listened.

“…Mom are the lights still being weird? Does someone still mess with the doorbell?”

“Now you’re concerned.” Frigga huffed, without venom.

“Mom—”

“Not often. Now and then, usually just after you and your father leave in the mornings. On the days I’m here all day, no. Not much anymore. Why?” She gave him another warning look. “Does it have something to do with this boy? Did you find out who is bothering us?”

“I…I just…if you see anyone, just call me. I had a weird dream, that’s all.”

“A dream?” Frigga asked, more curious now as she packed her purse, off to the stores. “Want to explain it?”

Thor wasn’t about to explain his weird sexual experience to his mother, even under the guise of a dream, and he truly wasn’t the best at lying to just make something up. He shook his head, swallowing, and turned abruptly to attack the microwave.

“Thanks for breakfast!”

“Okay then.” Frigga frowned, looking suspiciously around the room, but nodded and gave Thor’s hair a pat as she walked by. It was sticky and matted, and she cringed. “Thor, wash your hair for goodness sake. Have a shower, you smell like sweat and testosterone.”

Thor choked on his eggs.

 

An hour later of creeping around the house Thor settled on the knowledge that he was alone. Loki was no where to be seen.

But the minute he tried to step into the shower, the doorbell rang.

It took Thor five minutes to creep back downstairs, feeling completely out of his mind and ridiculous as fuck. He didn’t even know what he was scared _of_.

At the door was Tony, who pushed past him with an irritable noise.

“If I wanted to wait outside someone’s doorstep all day I’d have gone to Pepper’s. She’s still not talking to me by the way.”

Thor sighed in relief, glancing nervously around the front lawn in a small fit of paranoia before shutting and locking the door. He followed the sounds of Tony back to the livingroom, grateful for the normal noise.

“Do I have something on my face?” Tony asked, staring up at Thor from the couch.

Thor realized with a blush that he was standing and staring like a lunatic, half naked and feeling dirty.

“Sorry, I just…feel sick.” He lied, scrubbing his palm down his face. It wasn’t a total lie, but Tony wasn’t put off either.

“Go get better, I got all day.”

Now that he was having company over, Thor felt better, more sure of what was real, including his sanity. 

After a shower and a quick tidy up to his room, Thor rejoined Tony downstairs where they ate, played Playstation and ate some more. Tony had some unbeatable skills, and that was saying something considering Thor’s only hobby outside school sports was kicking ass at video games. Frigga returned at some point, fixing them up a snack of her own that beat anything they had slopped together, and remained in her room reading for the rest of the day. Odin was out on a business trip, so Tony hovered until the evening.

But the darker it got, the more déjà vu stepped in, and the more paranoid Thor become. It was just like the night before. Tony would head home, and Thor would go upstairs and find Loki in his bedroom. It was just too weird to ignore, even with his nerves of steel.

“Tony…do you…do you believe in…the supernatural?”

Tony frowned at him, the both of them on the floor with their backs against the seat of a couch. “What like, ghosts and magic and a god?”

“…Yeah, yeah I guess.”

“No.”

“At all?”

“There’s no physical public proof. And I’ve never seen anything. So, no. …Why? Seen something spooky? Did an angel touch you in a bad place?”

Normally Thor would have laughed, joined in on the joke, but it was a little too close for comfort. Spooky? Yes. Touched? Yes. Angel? Thor wouldn’t be surprised…

“Thor.” Tony jabbed him in the rips, making him jump. Tony jumped in return, leaning off with a squint. “Are you high?”

“Did you drug me?” Thor shot back, heart starting to race at the possibilities.

“No? What the fuck?”

Thor shook his head, rubbing his eyes. “Nothing. I’m beat.”

Tony regarded him for a moment. “Still feel sick?”

“Yeah a bit.”

“Well, Bruce is the one studying to be a doctor. So, can’t help you buddy.”

“Not a medical one,” Thor laughed.

They stood up and for a moment Thor wanted to beg Tony to sleep over. 

_But then Loki might not show up_

Confused and becoming awkwardly aroused, Thor sent Tony off and went about shutting all the windows and doors. Frigga came down while he was busy, getting herself a last cup of tea and patting him lovingly on the chest. Thor made sure he doubled checked everything before turning in, trying to stall to the last moment. 

Eventually he was back in his room. It was empty, and he took his time getting in bed, tensed and ready for Loki to turn up out of no where. The latch on the window was locked, so when he jumped in bed it was with a heavy sigh, his body aching in the weirdest ways.

He still couldn’t make out if what happened last night was real, and he was unbelievably tired. So thankfully, he drifted off to sleep, arm thrown over his face, one foot off the bed.

 

**XxXxXxXxXx**

When Loki did not reappear, Thor found himself looking. He even called his name, but all he got was a fright one morning when the bathroom light bulb blew. His father shrugged it off, as did Frigga after her _special_ family inspection, but it left Thor coming to terms with the fact that his little friend Loki might not quite be a regular friend. 

It both scared and excited him shitless.

Exactly a week later, the Friday evening, was when Loki came back, and Thor was buzzing with unexplained energy. He had been in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and waiting for the pizza to warm up when he saw him. Loki was far across the grass, in the playground, sitting alone in the dark on the swing. The pizza continued to rotate, abandoned as Thor rushed out into the chilly air.

Each step felt too small, too slow. He feared Loki would vanish before he got there, despite his refusal to blink at all. He was breathing hard by the time he jumped over the fence, feeling like _he_ was the creepy one chasing the other.

When he came face to face with Loki he stopped in confusion. 

Loki stared up at him, as handsome and quiet as ever. Thor hadn’t known what exactly to expect, but maybe a little something more revealing now that he knew something was seriously off. Like he had unlocked some weird ability in a game.

“What are you?” he blurted. He started to shiver in the night air, and unlike before Loki noticed, rather than staring off.

“You’re cold.” He stated. Thor frowned, nodding for it was obvious.

“What are you?” he repeated, more forcefully. “ _Who_ are you?”

Loki frowned, looking away as if lost. He studied the ground for an answer. “I am Loki.”

“How are you doing it?” He was getting mad, he didn’t mean to. He was just so confused and scared. He knew nothing, and it scared him. “Loki how did you get out? How did you get _in_?”

“I was scared.”

“That’s not an answer—!” Nor did it make sense! Thor took a few steps back, inhaling harshly as he tried to calm himself down. On the swing Loki looked up, seeming concerned, but he was eerily still. His hair wasn’t moving in the wind, Thor noted with a cold sting in his belly.

“…Are you a ghost?” 

It was the word he had been trying so hard not to speak— _think_ —but it was all his mind could offer. Anything else seemed too far out, as far as weirdness went. He held his breath for an answer, staring defiantly and daring himself to crack.

Loki frowned, a small furrow above his perfect nose. He looked down at himself, lifting each arm and lightly examining them. He too was shaking, and Thor realized the air was colder around him. 

“…I…I’m so cold. I’m so hungry….” He said, softly, sadly. When he looked up Thor’s heart wrenched. “I-I think I’m hurt.”

 

Sneaking Loki into the house around Frigga was easier than he thought. Sneaking _himself_ in was harder. It was harder not to look terrified as Loki walked into the house, the lights flickering as he went, straight down the hall and up the stairs, still as a plank. Frigga looked up, but seemed to see nothing but the lights and Thor’s frozen expression. He waved her and her call about the pizza off, jumping the steps two at a time. He crashed into his room, and found it empty.

“No.” he almost shouted, and started searching, throwing doors open and scattering his belongings. “No! Loki? Fuck!”

“Thor!” Frigga barked as she stumbled into the room. It was so abrupt Thor jumped a meter, tripping over a similar trap of his junk as Frigga had on her way in. She looked livid, wild even, but nothing as wild as Thor felt.

“Just _what_ is going on?!”

“He was here!” Thor shouted, pointing around, “He came in with me! I swear!”

“Who are you talking about?!”

“Loki! The ghost that—” The words tumbled out before he could stop them. He was breathing hard, mind still reeling, but the gravity weighed on him, and he paused to gauge his mother’s reaction.

She took a while to say anything, looking from him to the wreckage in the room and back again.

“…Mom…I’m seeing someone. _Appearing_ ,” he clarified. Suddenly feeling exhausted, the adrenaline easing off, he collapsed against the wall, rubbing his temples. “I’m not lying, mother. I see him, and he speaks to me, but its not…it’s never…it’s always vague. I think we have a ghost.”

Frigga studied him with a tight purse of her lips. “…For how long?”

Relief hit Thor in the chest, but anxiety quickly replaced it. If his mother took his side it only added belief that this was real.

“…Since the first day. He was in the park, across the backyard? Every week or so—he just shows up. I-I think he’s been the one with-with the lights. And the doorbell and I’ve been talking to him! I even invited him inside a few—!”

“No!” Frigga cut in, eyes wide in alarm. “Did he come in?”

“Yes!” Thor cried, panicking again. “He was in my room. He came up now!”

“You let him in now? While I was in the kitchen?!”

“He said he was cold! He was out there all alone—I couldn’t just leave him—!” 

Holding her hands out as if to calm herself Frigga took a few steps around, her lips pouted as she drew in calm and timed breathes. Thor stayed against the wall, heart beating against his ribs. They shared a quiet few moments, getting their calm (or Frigga’s) before turning back to lock gazes.

“Thor…has he said what he wants?”

Thor frowned in thought, but nothing quite surfaced. 

“Did he give you his name?”

“Loki. It’s Loki.”

“Okay…” Frigga took a deep breath, looking around, but really _looking_. She believed him, and it was scarier than the fact that Thor found himself believing. “Okay…has this Loki tried to hurt you?”

“No,” That needed no thought. If anything… “…But I think he was. I think…maybe he’s trapped here? I-I don’t know how this works but…I just…have a feeling.”

Frigga bit her lip. “…Thor these are dangerous things.”

“Loki isn’t dangerous.”

“Maybe not now, or him personally, but dabbling with the other side…it’s dangerous. By communicating with him you’re flipping on a light, drawing attention to yourself from the other side. If he’s trapped there isn’t much we can do. Trying to help him will only endanger us.”

“What? How is that fair? What about gran and-and all her—”

“She was a practiced medium Thor, we can’t just _magic_ up her skill because we’re related to her. This has to stop.” Frigga added, with a harsh finality. Thor clenched his jaw.

“…He’s lost and lonely, I can’t just ignore him.”

“You will try. And don’t you dare tell your father about this.”

Frigga was out of the door before Thor could reply. She shouted something about pizza, her steps hurried. Thor felt like running too, but there was a strange calm inside him. 

Loki may be a ghost, but he was still a person, alone, cold and scared.

 

Dinner was a mystery to Thor. He grabbed his pizza and ate it in his room, throwing a few words at Odin, who arrived too close for comfort. Frigga gave him a warning look, but he avoided her eyes and rushed back to his room, kicking things aside as he swallowed the chunks of pizza whole. 

Up down, left right. Thor paced. From the window to the door. He wanted to call Loki’s name, but he didn’t want Frigga barging in, or telling Odin. He locked the door as quietly as he could, and with hope flipped off the light.

He was barely back in bed, ready to throw himself down, when he heard sobbing from the closet. His heart skipped a beat, but his feet were surer, and he was falling into the closet before he could worry about being quiet.

Loki was there, tears streaming down his face, ice cold and pale as death.

“Oh, Loki,” 

Loki accepted his open arms and leaned into him, feeling as real and solid as any other person. Only he was a block of ice. “I was scared.”

Thor had heard that before from him, how many times now? An idea struck him, and he looked down, petting Loki’s hair with a shaking, but determined hand. “Will your father be home today?”

It took Loki a few moments to respond. He stared off, perhaps unaccustomed to being asked the question. Thankfully he shook his head before Thor could get too freaked out by the statue in his arms. 

“Do you want to come lay down with me?”

Loki responded faster this time, hooking his arms around Thor’s neck, giving a shy nod. When Thor drew him out of the closet bridal style he saw how beautiful Loki’s eyes were, perhaps too beautiful when wet, big and bright catching the light of the moon.

Thor dropped them into bed quickly, becoming cold too as Loki took in his heat, but never warming. He smelt like…dirt, strangely, dirt and…

Thor choked, coughing as a filthy stench filled his nose. He tried to avoid it, but there was no doubting it was coming from Loki, who was still sniffling and sobbing, bony and cold.

“What’s wrong?” Loki asked softly, trying to get closer. The smell intensified, and Thor forced himself up, sitting and looking down at Loki.

“You just…there’s a god-awful smell—” How did he explain this without offending the…ghost? There would be no getting used to that, he didn’t want to offend him trying. “I’m sorry, you just…something smells…off…”

Loki looked confused and upset, looking down at himself. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

“It’s not your fault.” Thor had the inexplicable urge to comfort him, every tear he shed was like a knife to his heart. Sucking it up, he dropped back down and gathered the shaking body into his arms. “It’s okay, it’s all okay, you’re safe here with me. Right here. I’m with you. Loki? Did you hear that? I’m with you…”

Thor didn’t know how much timed passed in which he lay, comforting Loki, his spiritual visitor. Over and over, he repeated his words, realising that perhaps Loki’s…whatever was roaming around, his soul? That perhaps it could only understand so much, or react in so many ways, stuck in some kind of lost void. Repetition was useful for many things, and he just felt this would be one of those times.

Again and again he rubbed Loki’s back, his arms, his cheeks his hair, all until he was near falling asleep, and Loki was calm besides him. It calmed him down almost as much as it seemed to calm Loki, and only when Loki moved did he realize the stench was gone, and Loki was cool to the touch, rather than icy. Wearily, he opened his eyes, feeling vulnerable in front of a being that probably didn’t sleep, but jerked back into his bedding at the sight of Loki leaning over him, transparent and a faint luminescence blue, but very much visible. He could see through his body, he could see his wrist through his hand as Loki held it up, placing it to his ghostly cheek.

“Warm.” He said, sounding so proud that Thor could not disagree.

“Warm,” he croaked, nodding.

“Take me?”

This time Thor jumped up too, literally staring through him as he laughed. It choked off as he remembered his very much on alert mother, and squeezed Loki’s arm.

“I…I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Please? Don’t you want me?”

Thor laughed again, a crazed sound as he looked Loki’s body up and down. The first bout of sex he was still unable to wrap his head around, he didn’t even want to try, but having another?

“You make me feel warm. You…you made me feel alive.”

Thor frowned. The latter of the words were definitely past tense and not repeats like half of Loki’s other dialogue. And besides the actual physical mystery of the sex, Thor wasn’t entirely sure Loki could consent. But he seemed to have remembered their first time, and he approved.

“…How does it make you feel alive?” he asked, feeling helpless under the powerful gaze of Loki, even if it was now transparent. He looked down, linking their fingers just to watch the strange image it made. Loki’s being was glowing faintly, and Thor could’ve sworn he _felt_ contentment in the air. 

“How do I know you’re not doing this against your will?”

Loki paused, tilting his head and looking confused. He smiled, as if what Thor said was ridiculous and lifted Thor’s hand again to kiss his fingers. “You’re not him...”

This set Thor off again, but Loki climbed into his lap before he could argue. He was pushed back onto the bedding with frightening strength, but Loki smiled, and everything felt right. 

Even with his transparency Loki looked alright, no longer haggard, or freezing cold, or smelling like death. Maybe all he needed was some living company to recharge his batteries? Or— “ _You…you made me feel alive_.” Yes that was it. Interactions with him made him feel alive, maybe it was his…energies? He didn’t know the terminology, but if a few hours of contact made this poor beautiful soul feel alright, Thor wasn’t going to reject him.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, firmly, cupping Loki’s neck to make sure he was paying attention.

It appeared he was, and Thor was shocked to see a flicker flow through his ghostly form, travelling from his chest outwards, much like the beat of a heart, the blush of one’s cheek.

“Thank you,” Loki whispered, his voice sounding far away and shy. 

This time Loki took his time, undressing them both slowly, mapping out Thor’s body in fascination, occasionally stopping to look at his own body, frowning at its form. But when he stopped to focus and bring back the solid appearance, Thor grabbed his arm. 

“Wait.”

Loki looked down at him, both down to their underpants. He raised an elegant brow in question, such a human thing to do, and Thor went red when he realized what he wanted.

Loki looked sad. “It’s…it’s hard…when…when we’re close. I can’t…I can’t always stay whole. It’s…too much…inside…” He was struggling for words, wincing when he finished off, still half unexplained as he looked away, shy.

But Thor had a feeling he knew what he meant. He swallowed, and reached up to cup Loki’s flickering face.

“Stay like this, it’s beautiful.”

Loki looked dubious, but relaxed down into him, his body giving a beam as he settled. He smiled, in thanks, and took Thor’s hands in his, and dragged them sensually down his smooth body. It was unreal.

In all honestly, Thor had the filthiest desire his mind had ever conjured. He wanted to _see_ his cock _inside_ Loki, _through_ him. His fingers, his cock, and he knew sex would never be the same again. But he couldn’t stop. He didn’t want to.

“I want you inside me,” Loki moaned, as if reading his mind. He was guiding Thor’s big hands all over his body faster and faster, spreading their warmth around as he starting to grind down. “I want you to come inside me. Make me feel alive. Please? _Please_ …” Loki was downright begging, leaning over and gnawing at Thor’s chest whilst rolling his hips.

“Okay, okay baby,” Thor cooed, breathing heavily. Loki groaned in response, paying no attention as Thor literally ripped off his own boxers, Loki’s following suit. He didn’t bother to question, and choose just to feel as he stared at Loki’s erect ghostly prick as he sat up, glancing down with him. It was stiff and bobbing, fluid collected at the tip. Thor grabbed it with both hands, smiling in awe as Loki moaned and bucked forward. He could _feel_ him, as if he were real. Only a few things were missing, like the prickle of body hair, the scent of masculine musk and stickiness of sweat. But there was something leaking from his pretty cock, and Thor swiped it up 

It was thick, thicker in composition than he knew any kind of cock emission to be, but Loki didn’t seem to notice, his eyes closed and face turned to the side, moaning softly. Thor hadn’t been awake through half of the last time, had Loki…climaxed? Was it possible? Was he just wasting time asking these questions? The substance he was rolling around his fingers was thick but still slippery, so Thor let his balls do the thinking for the night.

Humming, he jerked Loki’s cock, coaxing out a few dollops of the substance. He spat over it for good measure before reaching back, using his other hand to spread one of Loki’s cheeks so he could seek out his little hole. He found it without trouble, and watched as he pressed them against the near invisible ring. They moaned in union. Thor was in awe, it felt so real. Even more so with the strange smell that rose in the air. It was…familiar, just a hint of it, but he couldn’t put a name to it with all his blood in his dick.

But Loki _was_ real, he was right here in front of him.

Loki leaned over so he could rub his cock on Thor’s, whilst wriggling his arse back into Thor’s hand. He was responding like a living person would, and it was good enough for Thor.

Thor tentatively traced the puckered opening with one finger before pushing it in. His own cock twitched with sharp arousal as he felt the ghost’s body hold around his finger snugly, able to see it straight through his belly.

“More,” Loki moaned, pushing back in a languid roll of his hips. Thor obliged, pulling out the one then pushing two back in. He groaned at the feeling of them squeezing into the tight tunnel, Loki’s _precum_ if it could be called that, easing the way for a delicious glide. If anything Loki felt room temperature inside, so Thor started fingering him faster in hopes of warming him up, for Loki’s of sake as much as the idea of sinking his cock into this warmed slicked up hole. He wanted to cum and _see_ it collect in his hole, watch it drip out down his see-through thighs.

Wanton in a way Thor had never pegged on ghosts Loki groaned and started fucking himself back, reaching to jerk himself off as Thor twisted and shoved his fingers. He was panting, clenching every two seconds like clockwork, his cock dripping more of the clear fluid.

“Shh,” Thor reached up with his free hand, running his thumb over Loki’s lips. “My mother and father will hear us.”

Loki looked confused as to why that mattered, but grit his teeth and tried to hush himself, his eyes glassy in a…definitely dead way. It served to remind Thor exactly what the fuck he was doing, but he was too horny to stop now.

“I want to fuck you.” He breathed, wondering belatedly if Loki’s ghost could properly respond to those words without getting stuck in some weird trance.

“More.” Was all Loki said, closing his eyes as he took Thor’s thumb into his mouth and started sucking.

It was the end of Thor’s stalling. The affectionate glide of Loki’s tongue and the firm suction near shocked every nerve ending through his arm. He was painfully torn between pulling away his hand to grab Loki’s waist and force him on his cock, and shoving his thumb deeper into his mouth. What he ended up doing was a clumsy compromise. He pushed his thumb in, fingers gripping Loki’s jaw, whilst urging Loki forward so he could free his cock from between them, and press it to his sticky crack. There was that the smell again, but it was far from the world of unpleasant to pay it any mind, not with his cock head finally popping through the ring of wet muscle.

Loki whimpered brokenly. Thor wondered if it felt as it did when he was still alive, when he still had his body. Where was his body? Did he have a grave Thor could visit, or was he cremated?

“Take me…” Loki begged, snapping Thor out of his morbid wanderings by pulling up to sit back on Thor in one move. Loki _definitely_ wasn’t feeling this in the way one would with a living body. There was just no way he’d be able to open like that in one go without some kind of loud or violent reaction. Loki looked perfectly at ease, lips puckered in what his face expressed as pleasure, eyes fluttering as he sat himself balls deep.

Thor was shaking, sucking in minute breaths as he held onto Loki’s blue transparent hips with no intention of letting go. Loki winced, as if it hurt, but Thor was awestruck by the paired sight and feel of his throbbing cock encased in an invisible chute, buried inside the ethereal form of Loki’s naked vaporous body. He was _inside_ Loki, his little ghost.

He wouldn’t last very long, he knew it as soon as he started to thrust. He watched, brows furrow in concentration as he brought Loki’s body down over and over, driving his pulsing living flesh into him. He could see the precum he was leaving inside him, a small white spot forming at the furthest place his prick could reach, a light trail following it all the way down to his entrance, aiding Thor’s thrusts. He was so turned on it was beyond anything he could ask for, his cock was leaking profusely, and to be able to _see_ it, buried inside Loki’s belly, drove him mad.

It seemed his lover shared the sentiment, looking down with a low groan, watching with him. He bounced even harder in response, clawing at Thor’s shoulders.

Thor went numb, paralyzed, unable to do anything but moan out his otherworldly orgasm. Not even Loki’s unexpected cry of the name _Steve_ could stop to pleasure from taking him under.

 

**XxXxXxXxXxXx**

Thor awoke the next morning with a start. Frigga was banging down his door, and it quickly all came back to him. He called out a loud response to at least let her know he was awake as he kicked on his pants from the day before. Her shouting and banging continued, angrily now rather than worriedly. 

“I’m up!” he croaked, kicking a few last minute things from the doorway to swing it open, squinting and leaning on the wood.

Frigga looked at him, too obviously worried, then glanced around the room. “And?”

“And nothing,” he got out around a yawn, still too sleep drunk to blush or even look guilty. She would never suspect it in any case.

“You’re alright?” She asked, reaching out to tuck a lock of his hair behind his ear. When he nodded, yawning again, she sighed in relief. “Good. You need a shave. And why do you stink of Vaseline?”

Just as confused as she was, Thor was without an answer. After she left him to pick up the pieces of his psyche he realized he did in fact smell like Vaseline. Most specifically, his crotch. It was what he smelt the night before, but couldn’t put his finger on it. 

Thor added it to the list of things he’d simply let pass without explanation. It was just all too weird and complicated. 

 

Loki reappeared that afternoon, and each afternoon for a week before he disappeared without warning. Thor tried not worry, Loki revealed next to nothing about his existence, and he had always returned.

When he did, lights flickering and radio spazzing, he asked Thor to make him feel alive again. 

Thor obliged with all his heart if it meant seeing Loki smiling and talking, even if he forgot the things he said yesterday. Thor forgot all about the name Steve, and the fact that Loki’s presence had ever frightened him.

 

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

“Are you serous?”

Thor pulled his eye brow high to indicate he was not impressed, and pointedly stuffed his mouth full of sandwich. They were gathered beneath a large tree situated towards the end of the school field, enjoying their break. Thor had made some cool new friends here, Tony, Natasha, Sam and Bruce. They were a brilliant bunch, each in their own way. It made him feel somewhat inadequate, but Tony assured him his Hercules look would always be an asset, at least until his robot line were in production. Yeah, great friends.

“Why would you want to hear about that?” Nat asked, worlds less obnoxious. It didn’t put Tony off.

“Dude, I mean, having that playground behind your house is weird enough. You don’t _need_ to know what happened.”

“All I know is kids avoid it like the plague and no one says a word about. _Ever_.” He wasn’t being unreasonable or forward, it _was_ strange. The realtor had said nothing about the creepy playground right behind their backyard. It looked normal, but you had to see it everyday to realize it was off. 

“It’s not something people _like_ to talk about,” Sam added, frowning.

“Why? What happened?” Thor asked, too quickly. He’d had a feeling, finding Loki in that place so many times, looking so sad…

“Your dad didn’t investigate the house before buying it? The real estate agents didn’t say anything?” Bruce asked.

“No?” Okay, now he was getting nervous. “The house? What’s wrong with the house?” 

“Oh, now you sound worried—”

“Shut up, Tony.” Nat swatted him lightly across the mouth, stealing a handful of his fries in the process from his lunch.

Sam sighed, giving a little shrug. “Not much to tell. I mean, other than there was this guy that hung himself from the tree in the park about ten years ago. The one with the tree house? Yeah, smashed the thing up first before hanging himself.”

Thor went pale. He put the rest of his sandwich down.

“Now you’ve done it.” Tony quipped.

“Yeah, and since then I guess people don’t want their kids playing there. It _is_ creepy.”

Thor swallowed thickly, feeling sick. “…Was…where there kids when he…?”

“No, they found him like that in the morning. Guess he did it at night when there’d be less chance of getting caught. Thing is, his son vanished the same time.”

Thor blinked. “Son…?”

Sam nodded, looking sympathetic. “Yeah. He had a seventeen year old son. He went missing, we think that’s why Mr. Laufey killed himself. There was talk he had something to do with a solider. The son. There’s all kinds of rumours, but that’s all they are. Rumours, there was no evidence of his whereabouts, and the solider had already left. Maybe he was kidnapped, murdered, or just…ran away. No one knows. Or the police didn’t release all the information.”

If his face was rearranged in a weird way Thor wasn’t ashamed for it. He was so thoroughly overwhelmed he felt like he was Tony when he was in the zone with his experiments. 

“What…what was the son’s name?” he managed to get out, ignoring their increasingly concerned looks.

“I think it was Loki. Laufey and Loki” Sam said, searching his face. “Why?”

Thor nodded, the hair on his neck standing. “And…what was the soldier’s name?”

“…Steve Rogers. He’s a little famous in the town’s history.” Sam frowned harder, looking at the others. “Why? What’s up?”

“Nothing…just…sounds familiar.” 

Home time couldn’t come quick enough that day for Thor. He ran home as fast as he could, part of his fitness program, and ran all over the property, calling for Loki.

Loki did not appear that day, and Thor grudgingly waited until three days later he did. 

It was a rainy day, which Loki seemed strangely elated about, wandering around Frigga’s roses. Thor’s heart skipped a beat when he saw him through the window, the fly buzzer over reacting in his presence. There was always the chance Loki would be gone when Thor turned his eyes even for a second, but he was still there when Thor raced onto the porch.

“Loki.”

Loki looked up, water dripping down his face. He looked so real, so beautiful, Thor couldn’t imagine why anyone would be scared of him. Frigga had bought his lie that Loki did not reappear. It was easy to lie about it. The last time their ghostly visitor had come up he had been a shaking mess, but now he had no fear of Loki. Frigga couldn’t goad the fear out of him even when she tried with scary examples from her deceased mother of ghosts and their capabilities. But Loki wasn’t like that. Whatever happened to him did not turn him into some kind of monster.

“Where were you?” Thor asked, sounding pathetic, but intrigued as well. He knew as much about the supernatural as he did science, so it left him a little on the short (but neutral) side.

Loki frowned for an answer, but gave in with a shake of his head. “I don’t know.”

Thor sighed. He hadn’t expected an answer. Loki was improving though, maybe one day soon he would be able to say more. “Come inside, it’s raining.”

“It feels good.” Loki said, but didn’t hesitate to follow. The comment made Thor smile, and for a moment he could pretend they were a normal couple. Were they _any_ kind of couple? It was so weird.

His bedroom was always their destination, enough so that Loki often wandered there on his own, Thor following after his eerily presence and graceful steps.

“Do you like the house?” Loki asked, and it struck Thor that this was once Loki’s house, his bedroom…

Loki asked the question every few days. Thor hadn’t the heart to be cruel in any way about it, it wasn’t Loki fault, so each time he made sure to give a new answer. While repetition served well in other things, he thought an array of positive responses would sit well in Loki’s psyche.

“It’s much better when you’re in it.”

Loki beamed.

Thor set down his things, watching Loki look out the window, always to the playground. It reminded Thor of what he had learnt that day, and his heart sunk. Poor, poor Loki. His father must have been devastated when he went missing. Thor would have been too, not knowing what happened to Loki, sweet beautiful Loki. What ever happened hadn’t ended well, that much was certain…

He couldn’t stop it from bubbling out, he just had a sudden fit of anger and desperation to hear it from Loki. He wanted to find this Rogers and beat him to death, and if he was already dead, find his ghost and fucking ghost-bust it.

Loki had said the name while in passion…what had the bastard done to Loki?

“Who is Steve?”

The moment that followed was one of the more weird ones. Loki stared at him, immobile. Usually Loki… _simulated_ the little things living people did, like breathing and fidgeting. But when he got like this it was like he was paused, a frozen computer, a stuck record. It took him a few minutes before he started flickering in and out of vision like a distorted image, but he came around eventually, frowning and lost.

“Who is Steve?” Thor repeated. He needed to know, he needed to know to be able to help, even if his logic was screaming him down. 

“Steve?” Loki parroted, and looked around quickly.

Thor held out his hands. “No, no, it’s okay. He’s not here.”

“Not here?” Loki asked, hands fidgeting at his belly as he continued to look around.

“No, Steve isn’t here. Loki who is Steve?”

“My captain.” Loki said, voice a mere breath. Thor paused.

_“Well, too bad for them because when its fixed, they won’t be allowed to come back. We’ll make another gang, and if they want to join us, they have to join our gang first.”_

_“Like the army?”_

_“Yeah, I’ll be the commander.”_

_“You’d make a good captain.”_

_“Who would you like to be?”_

_“I…I don’t know…”_

_“No rush, think about it, and tell me. You can be anything you want.”_

Captain. Okay, so Loki was definitely involved with this Steve character. And that explained the toy soldiers, though they stopped showing up.

“Steve was in the army, wasn’t he?”

Loki held himself, a constant frown burdening his face. “…I…war…”

“Yes, war. Captains go to war.” 

“He never came for me.” Loki whispered. Suddenly there were fat tears streaming down his face. He looked up, distressed. “I was so scared.” He was shaking, and Thor forced him into a warm embrace where Loki continued to speak brokenly. “My father won’t—…my father didn’t…”

“He didn’t make it in time, did he?” Thor asked gently, holding Loki snugly beneath his chin. He was piecing it together, finally. It made him sick to his stomach, and he held Loki all the closer. “It’s okay…no one will hurt you again…”

His ghost didn’t respond, resting against Thor’s chest until Thor parted them, and took Loki to the window. “We’ll fix the treehouse okay?” He’d sort of forgotten about it and felt terrible, but he was only human. Loki’s father must have made it. Maybe…maybe his spirit would rest if he fixed it.

Eyes large and shiny, Loki nodded. Thor kissed his lips chastely, wanting to remind him that he was not alone, that he did not have to slink back into some black void for days on end, all alone because of what happened. But when he pulled away Loki followed, and they fell into bed together.

The mysteries of Loki’s presence were still numerous, but Thor had never been the mystery solving type. Unless it was broke, don’t fix it. He was content, Loki enjoyed their romps as did he, and so they became good at it as they went. The smell of Vaseline almost always returned when they had sex, and Thor could only assume it was part of Loki’s sex life when he was still alive, with the bastard that killed him. Men like soldiers and police officers were known for going mad, it was just something he never thought he’d get so close to.

Tonight was incredible as usual. Loki was smooth and fluid, full imaged and Thor didn’t dare ask for him to change just for his new found fetish. Loki was on his knees for a change. He was usually on top, or up against the wall. But never did Loki lay on his back, and Thor had never realized so to ask.

It was all going well until Thor’s fuzzy brain picked up on the sounds Loki was making. They were softer than usual, softer than they needed to be seeing as the house was empty, but they were strained. Thor relaxed the grip of his hands and slowed his thrusting, wondering if he got carried away, but Loki grew tenser, shoulders hunching as he pressed his face into the bedding. His knuckles were white as bone, and suddenly his entire body was haggard and pale. Thor froze, heart and hips stopping dead in its tracks. 

“L-Loki?”

“P-p-please…” Loki spluttered, shaking violently, “p-please…”

“Loki—” Thor called worriedly. He tried to pull back, about to lower Loki down and lay next to him when Loki screamed and arched, kicking his feet and shaking his head. Then Thor smelt blood, and looked down slowly in escalating disgust.

There was blood everywhere. On his cock, between Loki’s buttocks, trailing down his thighs onto the bed—it smelt so real Thor nearly vomited. There was no way to remove himself without making Loki cry out and beg incoherently, but he did so, apologizing and spitting weakly all the way.

Crying his heart out Loki collapsed and turned away, hugging himself and drawing his legs up. He was begging for it to stop, whimpering for his father, crying out the name Steve. The blood was still there, still red and sticky and covering them both. Thor didn’t know what to do. Loki did not seem to realize he was there, and after what seemed to be hours, Loki disappeared into thin air, and any evidence that he was there in the first place.

 

The very next day Thor called up Sam, forcing out of him whatever he could get. Soldiers usually were commemorated or listed in some way to honour them. If he couldn’t find Steve, he needed to at least see the face of the man that hurt Loki. 

To his luck one of Steve’s team was still alive. Steve was dead, so said all the records, and there was only one man that made it out alive. James Buchanan Barnes, who just happened to be the bastard’s best friend.

Thor walked in to the man’s room in the nursing home, dropping his friendly visage in favour of stalking, ready to throw a punch in hopes Steve would feel it in the after life. But he really should have expected the scene he met, a weakened man missing his arm, his eyes dark and haunted. 

“Who are you?” Barnes grunted, his voice still holding the discipline of a soldier. It had been ten years, and it was too clear he was wasting away here. Thor almost felt sorry for him, but then he just remembered it all over again and the burning rage returned.

“Steve Rogers, you knew him?”

The man looked surprised and offended, glancing at the door. “What’s it to you, you little punk?”

“Everything. _Your_ friend hurt someone special to me. _My_ friend.”

“What the fuck are you on about?” Barnes growled, shifting in his armchair. If Thor didn’t know better, he’d say the man hadn’t moved from in it a while.

“Loki, does that ring a bell?”

Barnes’ whole expression changed. “What?”

“Loki. The young man that went missing right after you all disappeared off to the last war. He went missing, and I have it under good authority that your friend Steve was responsible.”

It was clear Barnes wanted to get up and leave, shifting weakly and looking around at everything, anything to avoid Thor’s blazing eyes.

“I asked do you know him!”

“What is this?!” Barnes shouted back, looking back at him with fear in his eyes. It made Thor hesitate, but only for a moment.

“…I don’t care if you think I am crazy, but feel free to explain how else I know about it. Loki is still here. His spirit, and I am living in his old house. I see him. His ghost. It talks to me, and I know about what Steve did.”

For the longest time Barnes stared at him, dumbfounded. Thor waited, he waited to be called crazy, he waited for the nursing staff to barge in and drag him out twisting and ranting.

“…Steve loved that boy with all his heart.”

Thor made a noise of crazed disbelief. 

“He did,” Barnes breathed, settling back down. “Loki was…Steve was going to elope with him. Right after we won the war, of course. Steve was…quite the patriot. But…he never made it back. No one did…except me…”

_Denial, lies_ , Thor’s heart cried. He shook his head, pointing a finger. “No, that’s not true—”

“What do you know?” Barnes spat, a sudden fire behind his eyes. “You weren’t there. Loki had no one, he was alone, all he had was Steve. Even his father hated him, accusing him of being a queer…”

It felt like a bucket of cold water was thrown over Thor, his insides tightening and coiling until he felt suffocated. 

“That kid lived his life for Steve, for that dream that one day Steve would take him away. Spent all his time up in that stupid treehouse that Steve put together. I told him not to... Old Man Laufey hadn’t realised its significance to Loki until too late I guess. When I came back…I heard he’d killed himself, trashed the treehouse.”

“And Loki? What happened to him?”

Barnes took the moment to look superior, somehow looking down his nose at Thor from his seat. “I thought you knew it all.”

“Not—…” This was all backwards, all wrong, all completely fucking obvious…

“…He disappeared.” Barnes said after tormenting Thor for a few moments. He shrugged, resigned. “Neighbours at the time recall that Loki was home that day. But come morning…nothing. He was never seen again.”

Thor leaned heavily against the cabinet by the door, breathing heavily through his mouth to keep himself from passing out. It was only making him dizzier. There was an old picture inside the glass, one of a group of soldiers, Barnes included. Right in the middle was a tall fair-head man, standing straight and proud. Instantly Thor could tell who it was.

“You…you’re saying it was…”

“That man beat Loki often, to ‘toughen’ him up. He just couldn’t accept that Loki was never going to be a trophy son. He was never going to be the big solider running into war like all the other boys his age. Steve wasn’t even a kid, that prolly made it worse… Laufey was a cold man. So yeah…I think he had something to do with Loki’s death.”

Thor took some needed silence. The world remained in place, stagnant and still as he mulled it all over. At some point he realised he was on the floor, leaning back against the wall. Barnes broke the silence.

“…You’re seeing Loki?”

Thor nodded, blinking away surprise tears.

“…The kid…he must have been devastated when Steve didn’t make it home. Steve promised. Hell, he was the best solider we had…But hey…it’s not something anyone could control.”

Thor sniffled, wishing he had known all this already so he could be at home comforting Loki.

“…His soul, its-its restless,” he said, looking helplessly at Barnes. “I-I don’t know how to help him. He’s lost, I…”

“You’d be surprised how many ghost stories don’t leave the battle field.” Barnes said quietly, but loudly enough for Thor to hear. He smiled grimly. “War is death, boy. Dead everywhere. Men scattered. Bodies—pieces of bodies…you either escape in pieces or not at all.” He gestured to his missing arm, but Thor knew he meant it emotionally and mentally as well. Perhaps even spiritually.

“…Dying like that…sometimes you get…lost. One minute you shooting at the enemy, next you’re in a million pieces. You can’t see your body, you can’t hear or feel…no one is there. You could _feel_ them around, the lost souls. On the battle fields, in the barracks. Thousands of men without proper burials, without acknowledge, without the chance to kiss their children goodbye…Some of them linger. Loki…he’s dead, and no one ever found him.”

“Fuck.” The idea of searching around for Loki’s corpse was not only repulsive but incredibly upsetting. 

“My guess is he’s buried somewhere around the house, maybe in the garden, I dunno.”

“And Laufey? Could he still be there?” 

“Have you seen him?”

“No.”

“Has Loki?”

“…No?”

“Then if you’re lucky, no. Otherwise…Loki’s spirit might not be the only one in your house. It certainly won’t be as kind as Loki’s.”

On second thought, the idea of Loki being trapped on the property with his father’s (and murder’s) soul with him was far more repulsive. Was that what happened to Loki when he disappeared? Was Laufey hurting him in some way only spirits could? Was he holding him prisoner? Repeating their deaths over and over in the way Loki repeated words?

 

Thor made it home in a blur. He might’ve even stopped traffic, missing a truck by inches. Everything, his world was upside down, and he felt like he would drown.

When he returned home it was dark and quiet. There was a call on the receiver; his parents were going to be home late from Odin’s business dinner. It was just as well, they wouldn’t notice him shambling around like a zombie. Even Loki did.

“You’re sad.”

Thor swirled, finding Loki standing around the corner of the hallway, as if hesitating.

“Loki.” He breathed, chest tight as a new rubber band.

There was apprehension on Loki’s face. He looked ready to hide, possibly even cry. The sudden image of Loki hiding around the corner from his enraged father shot to the forefront of Thor’s mind, and the tears returned. They spilled silently down his cheeks. Loki frowned uncomfortably, shifting.

Swallowing, Thor stepped forward slowly. “Loki…do…what’s my name?”

The question put Loki off, but Thor had expected it. He should’ve realised Loki was seeing Steve when he looked at him. Tall and built, blond, blue eyed, it was no wonder he had attracted Loki’s ghost. He felt a tad jealous, the smallest bit used, but it was not Loki’s fault. If he loved that captain so much, it only made sense that was what he would search for if he came back. He reminded Loki of his lost lover.

Loki frowned into the wall, looking up each time Thor got closer. When they were a foot apart Loki opened his mouth to speak, brows still furrowed. Then he lifted his hand and touched Thor’s beard like it was some priceless vase on a column.

“…Thor.”

Relief and happiness washed over him like a tide. Thor smiled and breathed out, wrapping his hands around his little lost ghost. “Loki.”

“You’re sad.” Loki repeated, looking at him.

“Loki, I want to help you. Do you understand me?”

Loki looked upset, confused, and tried to pull away. Thor held on, forcing eye contact.

“No, Loki, please. You’re trapped here. You’re dead! We need to help you.”

“I was scared.” Loki choked, becoming frantic in Thor’s arms. He flickered violently and lost his solidity, becoming the eerily blue transparent figure. Thor started to panic too, unwilling to let the younger man disappear. 

“Loki it was your father who killed you, wasn’t it?”

The flickering stopped. Loki looked up, stiff and cold, and suddenly, _stinking_ of death and grief. Thor choked despite all his efforts.

“…My father…” Loki started, trailing off into nothingness. He stared off, eyes haunted and wide.

“Loki you can’t rest because no one knew what happened. But I know now! Can you understand me? I know what your father did.”

“I was scared.” Loki repeated, image distorted “My father…”

“Yes your father, Loki. Laufey.”

Instantly Loki looked up, unbridled terror splashed across his face. Then he dissolved like fog, mist, seeming to seep into the floor boards, the smell going with him. Thor scrambled for holding, waving his arms angrily and pacing in a circle. “Loki! No Loki, come back!” The ghostly vapour vanished beneath the wood. Thor didn’t spare a moment to think, yanking the latch to the basement open and flying down the stairs. Loki was down there, looking small and lost and frightened. 

Thor steadied himself when he reached the bottom, and for the first time got a proper look at the place. He had never come down here, there was no reason to. It was filled with junk from past families, and a little of their own. He could only see so much thanks to the light of Loki’s ghost.

“…Loki?”

“They don’t come anymore…” Loki mumbled, looking around sadly.

Thor swallowed the lump in his throat, and went to stand besides Loki. “Loki…is this where it happened. Is this where Laufey killed you?”

Loki’s image twitched, and he looked up to the wall, where an old dusty sling of rope hung. He said nothing, his eyes falling to the table of rusty broken tools besides it. Recognition appeared in his eyes, but he just kept looking around.

It was gruesome, but Thor wondered how Loki went. Was he strangled? Beaten? Stabbed? Shot? None sounded easier, though he supposed a gun would be the fastest cleanest way. Wasn’t Loki’s ghost supposed to show some kind evidence of how he died? He’d watched a few movies, he wasn’t entirely oblivious. 

“…Let me help you Loki. Where are you? Do you know where he put you?”

Loki was quiet for the longest time, and then he spoke, glistening eyes on their feet. “…Father said…I am lower than the dirt he walks on.”

Thor followed his gaze to the dusty wooden floor boards. Whoever put them down hadn’t done a very good—…

“Move,” Thor breathed, scattering the tools on the table by the wall until he found a crowbar. A heavy scene of dark déjà vu fell over him, and he could bet his life this was the same one Laufey had used to pry the planks open the first time.

“No!” Loki screamed, falling back against the wall. He was distorted again, fading from transparent to damn near invisible. He looked terrified, holding himself and screaming. “Please! Please don’t!”

“Loki we have to find you!” Thor shouted, dropped to his knees, immediately stabbing in the end to the point most open.

Each time he twisted and pulled Loki screamed, sliding down the wall until he was huddled against it, knees to his chest, sobbing his heart out. Thor steeled himself as Loki called him _daddy_ a few times, begging him to stop, begging him _please don’t_. But Thor couldn’t stop. He was not Laufey, he was trying to help.

When the first floorboard came loose, heavy and wide, Thor threw it aside, dirt and dust flying. What was under it, sent _him_ flying. It was just a knee jerk reaction, even after preparing himself. There under a thick suffocating blanket was Loki’s body.

Suddenly everything was quiet, Loki was quiet. Not even the house creaked. Thor was gasping for breath, looking from Loki’s spirit to the figure buried in the ground. It was too dark to see anything, so after a few deep breaths he crawled back. 

Yes, that was Loki. What gave him away was the black hair, and those…high cheek bones. Thor closed his eyes for a moment, trying to keep calm. When he opened them, Loki was besides him, staring at the body with a blank face.

There was still a floorboard in half the way, so Thor distracted himself by prying it up as well, properly revealing the wooden box Loki’s corpse was lying in. Loki’s luminescence glow helped Thor to see. The box was partially filled with dirt, perhaps the dirt Laufey had dug out of the way to fit the box in. The old fucker couldn’t have even left it out, or thrown it in the garden. He just threw it over Loki.

More disturbing Loki’s withered dried body was naked, knees draw up and to the right as though trying to hide his nakedness. His arms though were above his head, his wrists shackled by thick rope that was looped through a hole in the wood of the box. His head was to the side, one could have said he’d fallen asleep, if they couldn’t see the rest of him…

“I’m so hungry,” Loki whispered, staring bug eyed at himself, but there was a gleam in his eyes that showed a change. “It’s too small in here…”

The words were familiar, Loki had said them before. He’d… Thor had never realised it was possible to feel so much heartache. Loki had been all alone, frightened and hurt, crammed into this box, praying for his lover soldier to find and save him. Thor was crying before he knew it, looking around Loki’s body with as much concentration as he could, trying to find the cause of death, despite logic reminding him he was no doctor.

“I’m so hungry,” Loki repeated, pulling his hands to his stomach as if his spirit felt it.

Thor grew frustrated in his search, seeing nothing. Then he stopped, and took note of how Loki was lying. Laufey wouldn’t have positioned Loki like that if he just threw his corpse in, and he…there’d have been no need for the rope if…if…

“Too small…” Loki said sadly. Thor turned away and wretched, vomiting up bile. 

Loki had been buried alive. Alone, starving, suffocating, tied into a dark dirty hole until he died. _Lower than the dirt he walks on_ …

“Thor?”

Thor gasped for breath, sure he was on his way to a heart attack. Then Loki was touching his shoulder, and he looked over to see Loki concerned and scared, but not for himself.

“Thor?”

There were no words to say what he felt. He turned and hugged Loki as hard as he could, rocking them both and willing his love to cover all of Loki. He wished he had been there to protect him, he wished Steve had made it home, he wished anything but this…

“You’re warm.” Loki said, undoubtedly happy, as if he wasn’t in the presence of his lost corpse. Thor sniffled and nodded, rubbing his hands down Loki’s chilly boy to share his warmth. Loki sat limply besides him, watching with a strange gleam of content in his eyes as Thor fluffed him like a child out of the bath with a towel.

“You’re okay. We found you. I…I found you. And now you can move on. Right?”

No, Thor didn’t want him to leave. He would miss Loki. …But it was only right. Loki had been lost for ten years, and finally he was found. It would be cruel to make him stay.

“I am found.” Loki said, looking surprised. Thor nodded frantically, pointing.

“There, see?”

Loki looked. And looked. And looked.

“…Steve…”

“…Steve is dead.” It was hard to say, but if it helped Loki let go, it had to be said.

Loki turned up abruptly, shaking his head. “No.”

“Yes, he died in the war. It wasn’t his fault, or yours. He’s gone Loki, you have to let go. You have to be at peace. When you are…maybe you’ll go to him.”

Tears brimming and dripped down Loki’s cheeks within seconds, but his face was intimidatingly blank.

“Father hates him.”

Something new. Thor leaned forward, rapt with interest.

“Your father hated Steve?”

Loki nodded. 

“When…how did he find out about you and Steve?”

“…I was crying.” Loki said, eyes travelling in thought as he recalled the past. Thor didn’t dare blink, lest it all fall away. “It was raining…I was so cold…I was crying.”

“Because…? Of-of Steve?”

“Steve was late.” Loki nodded, “And father…he found the drawing and Steve’s pen and-and…” Loki choked off, looking down at himself. He winced, moving his knees apart in time for Thor see a growing red stain between his legs. It couldn’t have been real, not at how quickly it accumulated and started dripping on the floor, but it was enough of an explanation for the past, and for the incident that happened between them the last time they’d…Loki had been remembering—experiencing…

“I-I think I’m hurt…”

One, two, three. Thor breathed in slowly. It was just the past, it was over. It was only memories. Loki just had to rest. But Loki was still here besides him, staring at the blood dripping into a puddle on the floor with a far away look.

Maybe Loki had to be buried? That had to be it. Burying him would be tricky, but the neighbours weren’t nosy and if he started now he could dig up a fairly deep hole. Loki’s body probably weighed next to nothing, he would sneak it into the garden in a sheet and bury it in before anyone saw. 

“Okay, Loki. Go wait in my room okay?” Loki looked confused. “I’m going to go…dig a grave. For you. Then I’ll come back and I’ll bury your body, and you can finally rest. Can you go wait upstairs for me?”

At first Loki gave no indication that he understood. Then he nodded mechanically, and flickered out of sight. The blood disappeared too, and Thor took a few moments to compose himself before digging out the gardening tools.

 

Digging a grave turned out to be nothing like gardening. Thor was dripping with sweat and dirt, straining his muscles by the time he was done, nearly two hours later. It was only through his physical strength and utter determination to see this through did he get it done within the time frame. The soil became harder and more compact the further down he went, but every moment was worth it. Often he could feel eyes on his back from above, Loki, and it helped to push him on. 

Getting the body out of the basement was another story, and by then he was half paranoid his folks would return home and catch him like some serial killer. The disgust for the corpse wasn’t too great once he realised that it was dry and stiff as bone, no fleshy rotten limbs to be dragging. He would’ve thought Loki would be entirely bones by now, but he was no expert, and he added it to the list of _unexplainables_. 

Thor cut the rope from Loki’s wrists, and ever so carefully and cautious pulled him out. The body stayed in the position it was, and Thor figured it best in case his measuring had been off. It made his heart sore all over again, so he tried not to think at all as he wrapped the body up, and took it out to bury.

When he got there, an area Frigga didn’t use for her own gardening, Loki was already in the hole. The young man looked up, looking for once, excited.

Thor paused, again wondering if he had it big enough. It seemed to be. “…Is it okay?”

Loki blinked, then looked around the hole. It came up to his shoulders. Perhaps it wasn’t as deep as a normal grave, but Thor had done his best. 

“I think so.”

It had to be. Thor manoeuvred himself down into the hole besides Loki, who moved back to watch him as he put his body down slowly and lovingly. It still didn’t feel entirely right, Loki’s body was stuck in the way it had died and Thor was no going to dare try and rearrange him just to break the bone. 

“It’s good.” Loki said suddenly from besides him. He was standing half inside the wall of soil, smiling at Thor in a most beautiful way. Thor couldn’t help returning it.

Shovelling the heap of soil back took another while, but it was far easier, and a tad weird with Loki skipping back and forth in the hole, the dirt falling straight through him. When Thor was just about done Loki climbed out, watching closely, and when the past pat to the ground fell, he hummed. The sound was so full of content Thor gave one too, closing his eyes in relief.

It was done. He’d done it. It was done.

“I…I must go now…” Loki said, uncertainly. Thor turned to face him, dropping the shove. 

“I guess so, yeah.” Thor nodded, trying his best not to look disappointed. He felt like he was losing a loved one. “…Go and see Steve. Just…go sleep. When you wake up, you’ll be at peace.” He still had no idea where Loki would disappear off to for days, but sleeping sounded most believable. 

Loki didn’t argue or correct him, and cupped his face with his hands. “Thank you, Thor.” He breathed, and leaned forward. Thor met him eagerly, summoning all his strength to squeeze Loki’s thin body close and kiss him for all he was worth, one last time.

When he opened his eyes, Loki was gone.

 

**XxXxXxXx**

“I’m telling you Thor, you’re gonna love this chick. A little too smart for you but that’s why you compliment each other.”

Thor rolled his eyes lightly at Tony. The guy finally convinced him to ask Jane, a girl in his science class, on a date. He agreed partly because she was one of the cutest and sweetest people he’d ever seen (more so because she was the one that had crushed first), but also to help keep himself distracted. He hadn’t slept a wink all week, waiting for Loki to reappear and straddle him. He was sure it counted as unhealthy, and Thor Odinson was known for being healthy, so he gave in to Tony and Nat’s pestering and asked Jane out.

“I’m sure you have it all worked out.” He shot back, waving Tony off as they went their separate ways. School was out, and he could go home and suffer in silence. Nothing was the same anymore, even Odin had noticed he was off. 

He no longer jogged, electing to walk. He made it home a little later, but that was fine.

What wasn’t fine was his insistence to walk one road down so he was forced to cut through the park and jump over the fence just to get to his house.

And what was worse was the person sitting on the swing today, waiting for him.

He stopped dead, nearly tripping head first into the merry-go-round. He righted himself just in time, and stared at the beautiful face of his ghostly lover.

Loki smirked, _smirked_. “Hello.”

“Loki.” Thor frowned, whirlwind-like confused. Had he not done the right thing? “Why are you here? I-I mean…I thought I helped, I—”

“You did, I can feel it.” Loki gestured to himself. He looked a lot better, and—he was speaking more words, in context. Body language, voice tones—the change was obvious. 

“What happened?” Thor finally relaxed and rushed forward, dropping his school bag. Loki smiled at his enthusiasm and stood to greet him.

“I know I was supposed to leave, I could feel this…pull…but every time I just…something held me back. Something more. I didn’t realise what it was until today.”

Thor shook his head, then nodded, then shrugged, then did a weird combination of all three in hopes that it looked like a prompt. Loki giggled—a heavenly sound—and he turned his eyes away, looking up.

“You didn’t fix the treehouse.”

Thor blinked

He exhaled

And he laughed.

A bright smile splashed across Loki’s face and he took Thor’s hand. “I’ll just have to stick around until it’s done.” He quipped, sass so evident in his voice it made Thor tear up in joy. He _had_ helped Loki. So much so that he elected to stay…for a while longer. 

“Thanks for giving me a second chance.” Thor breathed, squeezing Loki’s hand as hard as he dared. 

Loki looked back, inclined towards the tree, glowing like the angel Thor always believed him to be. 

“Now give us a kiss.”

**XxXxXxXxXx**

**Author's Note:**

> I aimed for pure pornography and I wrote a short novel seriously wHAT
> 
> A dear guest pointed out the song _Supernatural_ by Daughtry. I had no idea of its existence, its a wonderful song, and it's almost the fucking theme song for this fic. Thank you Guest for that brilliant observation. I suggest readers take a peek at the song and prepare for shivers! The coincidence is supernatural lol


End file.
